This is the final straight of this season of The Vampire Dairies and things just heated up in more ways than one. After a two-week break the show returned with a road trip that led to a moment that some viewers have been anticipating all season and the episode pulled yet another unexpected twist out of the bag to complicate things even further.
Let’s start with the epic motel moment and it’s hilarious that both Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen- welcome back!) and Stefan (Paul Wesley) saw the word ‘motel’ as having more meaning that just being a place to sleep. They were both proved to be right as both Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Elena (Nina Dobrev) had trouble sleeping; this led to a conflicted bed moment that resulted in Elena walking out of the motel room. When Florence and the Machine’s “Never Let Me Go” kicked in you knew that there was going to be a spark and this spark led to an extremely hot and heavy passionate kiss that is probably captured all over Tumblr right now. No matter where you stand on the whole Elena/Damon/Stefan triangle this moment has been building all season and needed to happen as it would be a disservice to these characters and the story if it didn’t.
Jeremy did the younger brother thing and interrupted with some very judgemental eyes, but he has seen Damon do a lot of terrible stuff (and been on the receiving end) so he is only looking out for his sister (that or he is a Stelena fan). The point of the Jeremy mission was so he could contact Rose (Lauren Cohen) from the beyond and find out who turned her and while Rose was doing this she also gave props to the Delena of it all. Rose’s conversation with Jeremy about the triangle felt like a way for the writers to reveal that there are reasons why both pairings could work; Stefan’s love is pure but Damon challenges Elena and could be the best or worst thing for Elena. I’m not sure this convinced Jeremy or if it will make those who root a certain way see it from the other side. It felt a tad unnecessary to spell it out in such obvious terms as we all know by now what each brother means to Elena, this point just felt like hammering it home.
What Elena needs to do is make a decision and this is the one area where Elena is passive; with everything else she is happy to tackle head on but when it comes to her growing feelings towards Damon she hasn’t taken charge. This decision would be a lot easier if Stefan hadn’t regained control and recently declared his love for Elena and pointed out that she has feelings for Damon. Damon is also not going to be the one to help her choose, despite his habit of sabotage. He also revealed that the reason why he hides certain actions from everyone is because “When people see good, they expect good and I don’t want to have to live up to anyone’s expectations.” Elena needs to be the one to decide but can she? Will Elena end the season with neither Salvatore brother?
Stefan was the one that suggested the road trip even if he knows that he could be pushing Elena away and he had an important task to complete at home; he needs to have a conversation with Alaric’s (Matt Davis) evil alter-ego to find out where the final stake is. This allows these two characters to compare their inner-darkness and Alaric’s alter-ego is similar to the monster that lies within Stefan and control is the key element. Stefan has finally figured out that he can’t completely banish his ripper side and with this realization he can stop it from controlling him. While Alaric is nowhere near this point with his own inner bad self it helps that one of them has it figured out. The moment with bad Alaric is reminiscent of the moments last season when Klaus (Joseph Morgan) was using Alaric’s body and gives Matt Davis some wonderful material to work with.
It all seemed pretty simple when Alaric gave up the location of the stake and pretty dumb to just send Rebekah (Claire Holt) with him to retrieve it, but nothing on this show is ever the way it seems and I should have learnt that by now. The death of Esther (Alice Evans) in this episode was abrupt and it wasn’t something that I questioned, so the reveal that she is now using Rebekah’s body was rather genius. Evil Alaric now has an ally and a powerful one at that, though killing four vampires with one stake that burns up seems like a challenge. Esther really is the worst.
Jeremy isn’t the only character who returned tonight and Tyler (Michael Trevino) is back from his ‘how to control his inner beast and therefore bond to Klaus’ retreat (needs a catchier name). Caroline (Candice Accola) is more than glad to see Tyler and the two have a passionate reunion in the not so romantic location of the Lockwood dungeon. Caroline tells Tyler about the bloodline problem that separates him from the others and even though Damon doesn’t care about protecting Tyler she won’t let them kill Klaus. This all goes downhill when Tyler finds Klaus’ creepy Caroline drawing and it is clear he suspects her reasons for protecting Klaus go beyond Tyler’s safety. It would seem that Tyler is overreacting but he has been out of town for a while now so his imagination is getting the better of him.
Other Observations
-Now that Esther is using Rebekah’s body it seems like she will never get to go to a school dance which just makes me terribly sad, especially after Rebekah declares that she hasn’t ‘lived at all’ in the 1000 years that she has been alive. Also making me sad with Rebekah is that her mistrust of Matt (Zach Roerig) was completely justified, but he did such a good job of convincing her otherwise. Is it wrong that I’m secretly rooting for these two?
-No Joseph Conrad and his Heart of Darkness in Alaric’s reading materials as that would have been too on the nose but he does get Moby Dick (who is the white whale in Mystic Falls?) and Damon hilariously adds Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to the collection.
-The answer to what Klaus will do if he doesn’t get the stake back is pretty to the point: “Wage war. Murder people. Klaus stuff.” The standard response on The Vampire Diaries.
-Is Jeremy’s alter ego a “pot smoking hippy pacifist?”
Some very important developments in this episode of The Vampire Diaries that will have a big impact on the final three episodes including the BIG kiss and a mother daughter body switch. What did you think of the episode? Let us know in the comments below.
Next week: Decade Dance fun! To watch the promo for “Do Not Go Gentle” head here.
For more coverage of the show, including sneak peeks, photos, spoilers and more, browse and bookmark our Vampire Diaries page. You can also catch the newest episodes from Hulu on our page!
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